An emergency response vehicle (ERV) carrying an innovative Israeli machine that pulls pure drinking water directly out of ambient air is on its way to California, to provide hydration to police and firefighters dealing with the aftermath of two massive wildfires that have taken at least 87 lives and destroyed over 10,000 homes and businesses.

Slow-motion collisions of tectonic plates under the ocean drag about three times more water down into the deep Earth than previously believed, according to a seismic study that spans the Mariana Trench.

The observations from the deepest ocean trench in the world have important implications for the global water cycle, researchers say.

China’s environmental and food logistics problems may be far worse than they are letting on.

China’s hunger for soybeans is a window into an encroaching environmental crisis

BY JEFF NESBIT

How China’s desperate efforts to source soybeans from all over the world is explained by the country’s fear of running out of water.

China approached Peru and Brazil with an extraordinarily ambitious proposition several years ago. It would build a 3,000-mile railroad from the western coast of Peru to the eastern coast of Brazil to handle commerce and trade from the interior of South America to China.

Being “hoisted by his own petard” means the bomb maker gets blown up and lifted sky high by his own explosive device. Former Colorado Department of Natural Resources director Greg Walcher notes that the term applies with delicious irony to the in-your-face, holier-than-thou environmentalists who inhabit and run San Francisco.

Determined to save locally endangered salmon populations, they and the State of California have long demanded and imposed water use reductions by Central Valley farmers. But now the California Water Resources Board wants further water use reductions – and this time those reductions will also hit city residences, schools and businesses, and hit them hard: a hefty portion of 98 billion to 220 billion gallons less water per year! Imagine how many baths, showers, laundry and dishwasher loads, and other “essentials” that would mean.

California may be done waiting for everyone else to get their act together on climate change.

Earlier this week, by a vote of 44 to 33, the state Assembly passed a bill that would require California to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2045. An equivalent measure already passed the state Senate. A whopping 72 percent of Californians support the measure. All that’s left is for Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to sign the bill. And he’s expected to do so.

During the summer — and even year-round — our bodies crave water. There’s no way to live without it. But just how much do we really need every day to stay healthy?

The answer can get complicated.

“It’s hard to find an exact amount because it’s variable based on your age, where you live, whether it’s hot and humid, or cold and dry. Are you male or female, more active or less active,” said Ilyse Schapiro, a registered dietitian with nutrition counseling practices in New York and Connecticut.